


Cracking Under Pressure

by NerdyNobody, ThatShxtAgain



Category: N.E.R.D.S. - Michael Buckley
Genre: Angst/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2020-03-30 01:06:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19031599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdyNobody/pseuds/NerdyNobody, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatShxtAgain/pseuds/ThatShxtAgain
Summary: Heathcliff isn’t the only traitor - in fact all of the NERDS have switched over to the dark side. Finding himself alone and outcasted once more, Jackson must step up as a leader to some newly recruited members in order to stop his former team - and possibly change their minds.





	1. Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is a collab with NerdyNobody, I hope you’ll enjoy!

Jackson cracked a grin once the NERDS, Brand, and the lunch lady spring into action. This was it - once all the goons were down and the machine was destroyed, they’d win. 

 

Jackson’s main focus was his team. With every ten goons dispatched from each teammate, twenty more would come to replace them, but the NERDS wouldn’t slow down for a second. He caught a whoop from Flinch when he sped past him, knocking over a row of goons coming his way. Jackson only managed to duck before Matilda swooped down, blasting her inhalers at the ring of goons closing in on Ruby, who then grabbed her arm, flying upward, then letting go a few moments later to land on two goons’ heads, who fell hard on the other goons behind them. Duncan used this advantage to spray paste on the fallen goons, and Heathcliff controls the next flood to attack their fellow workers.

 

“They’re incredible,” Jackson breathed to Brand, whom he was knocking skulls with side by side. “I know,” Brand panted, looking up for a moment and watching as another wave of Matilda’s inhalers sprayed the goons. “I-I couldn’t get passed their ages...I thought I was babysitting superpowered kindergartners...but they’re as good as I ever was.” 

 

Jackson nodded, once again taking a look around at his team as they took down goons left and right. "Don't feel bad. Before, I thought they were just a bunch of losers and geeks. We were both wrong." He said, looking down slightly.

 

The two looked up as the doors slammed open once more, yet another wave of goons flooding in, all armed with microwave blasters. Brand grit his teeth, taking a step back as he called to Heathcliff. "Choppers! Now would be a good time to use your upgrades!" He shouted. The boy looked towards him, his eyes darkening behind his thick glasses.

 

"Yes. I agree." He said, taking a step towards the thugs. He then paused, turning back towards his team. "Choppers, what are you doing?" the lunch lady asked, his eyebrows furrowing. 

 

"That's not my name." The boy said, reaching into his pocket. Out from it, he pulled a black mask, with a white skull painted on the front of it. He waved it slightly, a smirk slowly forming on his face. "My name is Simon. And what Simon says...goes."

 

Brand, Jackson, Hyena, and the Lunch Lady all stiffened, their eyes widening. "You're Simon?! But...that means you're the one behind all of this!" Hyena cried. Simon chuckled, shaking his head as his smirk widened even further. "I wasn't alone." He said, twirling the mask in his hand dramatically for one last moment before tossing it over to Duncan, who caught it easily. The chubby African American studied the mask in his glue covered hand, commenting, “it’s quite simple to add a voice changer to the mask-” He flips the mask around, taking out a hidden panel from the back, revealing an assortment of blinking switches, wires, and an audio recorder.

 

The paste eater reattached the panel before reeling his arm back, then threw the mask downward. A blur of clothing and the strong scent of sweets caught it, before skidding to a stop on the other side of the room. “-and altering multiple camera angles so it would look like the footage was all the same person, when in reality they weren’t,” Flinch added, passing the mask around in his hands playfully before he sped off again, tossing it forcefully upward, where Matilda caught it.

 

“Not to mention you just  _ assume  _ we’re all ‘little children,’” Matilda air-quoted mockingly, her words intended more so on Brand. “Who couldn’t  _ possibly  _ do any trouble.” Matilda flew to the other end of the room, and Jackson’s heart sank when she drops the mask to the final member - Ruby, who catches it with one hand. She stares down at the mask with a neutral expression, crossing to Heathcliff’s side of the room. “And just like that, we had you all wrapped around our fingers, believing this ‘Simon’ was a single omniscient. You. Were.  _ Wrong. _ ” The words sounded harsher than Jackson expected them to be as he realizes each of the NERDS had joined Heathcliff’s side, where Ruby passes the mask back to the redhead, and together, they all say in the most defiant voice they could muster, “ **_We_ ** **_are Simon_ ** .”

 

“B-But why?” the Hyena sputtered. “You’re the good guys - you’re  _ supposed  _ to be against the whole ‘end of the word scenarios,’ not make them!”

 

“Because we are sick and tired of this world!” Heathcliff exclaimed. “It’s upside down and inside out. Nothing makes sense. How else could explain a world that cherishes charm and good looks over intelligence? How else can you explain a place where people are tormented because they are smart? Or because they don’t wear the right clothes? Or because they can’t fit their round bodies into square holes? This planet is  _ terrible.  _ Especially to people like us.” He gestures to the rest of the NERDS. “We’re brilliant, creative people but we’re treated like fools - shoved in lockers. Given wedgies. Laughed at. Things have to change. Admittedly, at the start, we had different agendas. My cohorts wanted to, I quote, ‘repurpose’ the world, like Jigsaw wanted to re-create a world long gone. I just wanted to smash it into pieces.” His last line brought several glares from the others, and Heathcliff noticed them right away. “But-! We managed to agree on something. We can still continue to open the world’s eyes, like they wanted, but a little chaos is needed to bring them to reality, my part.”

 

“You’re just as crazy as Jigsaw,” Jackson said. 

 

“If that’s true, then it’s all because of you,” Jackson was taken off guard when it was Duncan who spoke next. The person who worked so hard to bring everyone together, the one who supported him despite what he did, the one who showed him what he had done, was now staring at him with cold eyes, placing a hand on Heathcliff’s shoulder. There was something... _ off  _ about the way he stared down at Jackson, almost forcing that look. “You tortured him with your stupid pranks. You made him feel small and insignificant. The rest of our IQ’s are a billion times yours, yet you still walked around like you owned the school.”

 

“Duncan, I was a different person then,” Jackson spoke gently, hoping the change in tone would make a difference. A twitch of his eye told him it did.

 

“Maybe, but there’s more like you out there,” Heathcliff takes over, but Jackson had already caught a crack in Duncan’s mask - he was guilty. This  _ wasn’t  _ what he wanted. “There’s a million Jackson Jonses. Maybe billions, and the only way to stop them is to take their minds off of picking on nerds and geeks. We’re going to give them something else to concentrate on - like the end of the world. It won’t truly be the end of the world, of course, but they don’t need to know that.”

 

Heathcliff turned on his heel, looking up at Jigsaw and folding his hands behind his back. "Simon says turn it on, Dr. Jigsaw. I think it's about time we started causing some panic." He said. The man nodded, walking up a flight of stairs to a platform beneath the satellite dish, beginning to work at the control panel that sat there. "This will only take a minute, Simon." He said, pushing a few buttons. 

 

Almost immediately, the humming from the machine grew, along with the beeps and tweets of the controls as a bright green light shot into the sky from the tip of the satellite dish. "It's starting!!!" One of the scientists cried. Jackson's heart sank even further as he looked towards the former NERDS team, standing still and simply watching as it happened with cold expressions.

 

"Kids, stop this! This isn't right!" Brand begged, hobbling forward to try to stop it, but was quickly knocked to the ground by Dumb Vinci. 

 

The ground shook and rocked like it was on a stormy sea, agitated by the powerful machine still shooting it's ray into the sky. From the ground rose a large monitor, static still buzzing on it for a moment before the channel switched, showing a terrified newscaster.

 

“We are joining you now live from the CNN newsroom. Reports are coming in of earthquakes in California, North Carolina, Yucatan, and Newfoundland. Another report just came in to the newsroom claims that a massive tidal wave slammed into the North Slope of Alaska. Our satellites are telling us that North America seems to be moving. For now, the National Weather Service is declaring a state of emergency for the United States. Canada, Mexico, and other countries are doing the same. Viewers are encouraged to stay in their homes. If you’re on the street, there’s a very likely chance that you could die, so please, stay indoors.”

 

“Look at the destruction you’re causing!” the lunch lady cried.

 

“This is for the world’s good,” Ruby responded calmly, facing her back towards him. “They’ll learn, given time.” 

 

Brand paled even further, even though it did not seem possible. He swallowed, finally looking to where Jackson and the Hyena stood. "You need to destroy the beam!" He said desperately. The two looked at each other, and nodded. "You got it." Hyena responded, jumping into action with Jackson right on her heels.

 

"Oh no you don't. Get them!" Ruby ordered, rushing to meet the other two with the rest of the team at her sides.

 

The whole team attacked at once. Jackson tried to stop them, but each were too spry. He turned his braces into a giant flyswatter to smack Matilda out of the sky, but Duncan had been climbing beside her, and pulled her out of the way, making the flyswatter smack into the wall instead, where the boy sprayed paste on it. Luckily, Jackson hadn’t used all his braces, and morphed the others into a half - giant hand, scooping up some goons and tossing them at Ruby and Heathcliff. Jackson used this time to pry out the flyswatter, but in doing so he missed Flinch dashing towards him, and just when he turned he was met with a punch in the jaw.

 

He let out a pained cry as he went flying back, nearly slamming into Hyena as he tumbled end over end on the floor, his vision spotty and dark as he struggled against unconsciousness for a couple of seconds. "Jackson!" Hyena yelped, stepping forward to help him. He groaned, attempting to roll over and push himself up despite the pain and dizziness that came from being hit so hard. He could imagine Flinch had probably been wanting to do that for a while. 

 

"Hyena. I-I don't know if we can beat them like this." He said to the other girl as she grabbed his arm to help him up, walking back with him as the former NERDS advanced on the two. The Hyena frowned, her eyes narrowing at the other party as she stopped. "All right then. Looks like I have to do everything around here." She said, letting go of Jackson and stepping forward as she reached into her pocket, pulling a pair of earplugs from them. "Put these in your ears."

 

"What are these for?" Jackson asked incredulously, giving her a bewildered look. The Hyena frowned. "I have an ability myself." She told him.

 

"Like my braces?"

 

"Yes, and just as embarrassing. Put them in, and promise me you won't take them out until I tell you." She replied firmly, shaking the hand with the earplugs slightly. Jackson gave her one last look before taking them. "Fine." He said, still completely confused. He shoved them into his ears, giving the assassin a smile.

 

"Happy? Oh that's weird, I can barely hear myself." He said. Whatever the Hyena's plan was, he was still sure they were about to be murdered by his superpowered teammates. Or, well, superpowered former teammates.

 

Suddenly, they stopped. Bewildered, Jackson watched as one after the other began to smirk, then shake, and though he couldn’t hear, it was clear they were breaking down into complete hysterical laughter. He turned to his partner and saw that she was giggling herself - but not as uncontrollably as everyone else in the room.

 

Jackson  _ had  _ to know what was going on, so he took the earplugs out. What filled his ears was the most obnoxious, donkeylike, ridiculous laugh he had ever heard. It came from the Hyena, and was so silly and stupid he couldn’t help but laugh at it too. Soon his chuckle turned into a guffaw, and the guffaw turned into a chortle, and the chortle turned into a gust-bursting, pain-inducing laugh. He was about to fall over from the pain in his side when the Hyena snatched his earplugs out of his hand and shoved them back in his ears. Her laughter disappeared, as did his giggle fit. He now knew where his partner got her name.

 

Finally, the Hyena removed the earplugs from his ears again. Jackson surveyed her attack. Everyone was on the floor holding their bellies, still laughing, but the green beam from the satellite dish was still blasting into space. 

 

“If we’re going to save the world, we’d better do it now,” The Hyena said urgently. Jackson swallowed, looking around to quickly survey the area with a panicked look. "Uh, ok. Ok. Think, Jackson. Think." He muttered to himself, running up the stairs to where the machine was held. It wouldn’t be long until his former team were back on their feet, so he had to act fast.

 

"Uh, Hyena! Do you know how to work this thing?" He said quickly. The girl shook her head, looking around again. "No, I don't. And I doubt we'll be getting any help from anybody who does." She replied. Jackson let out a growl of frustration, punching the machine as his braces whirled about in his mouth. "Try to figure it out. I-I'm going to try to find something else." He said, turning on his heel and sprinting back down the stairs. 

 

Jackson tried to swallow down his panic as he rushed to the base of the machine, every gear in his head turning at a rapid pace. He needed to be faster. 

 

Suddenly, something clicked. He whirled around and ran to one of the fallen goons, snatching up a microwave blaster. "Hey Hyena! Catch!" He shouted, tossing it upwards to her. She caught it, giving him a confused look. "What the heck is this for?" She asked incredulously. "No time! Just try to break the control panel with that! I'm gonna take down the girders!" He answered, his braces already morphing out of his mouth to make giant fists.

 

The Hyena only gave him one last look of shock before she stepped back, beginning to blast at the panel as Jackson rushed to the girders. He began to slam the metal fists into them as the Hyena continued her own onslaught, sparks already flying from the panel. 

 

"I think it's working!" She called as she heard the machine begin to pop and buzz unnaturally, seeing the beam at the top of the satellite dish waver and destabilize. "Great!" Jackson called back, a small grin going across his face for a moment despite himself. He gave the girder one hard final whack with his metal fists, and watched as it finally bended and broke, beginning to tip over.

 

Jackson yelped and scrambled out of the way of its path, only just barely making it out of range when is slammed into the ice, everything around it breaking and sending cracks all throughout the room. Meanwhile, Hyena let out her own whoop of triumph as she jumped back from the control panel and onto the stairs as the whole thing exploded in a brilliant show of flames and sparks. "We did it!" She cried.

 

Unfortunately, this was not an end to the problems at hand. The last ebb of the tractor beam hit the ocean floor deep beneath the fortress. As the beam exerted its pull, the icy ocean floor shot upward, forming an ice mountain that rose high into the air, taking Jigsaw’s fortress and its inhabitants with it. In the midst of the cataclysm, the Hyena slipped and tumbled over the side of a rapidly rising cliff. She held on with all her strength, but when Jackson rushed to her, she was already slipping. He reached out and snatched her by the arm.

 

“Don’t let me go,” she begged, looking down at the long drop below.

 

“I won’t,” he promised.

 

“You!” A voice roared behind him. “You did this!”

 

Jackson turned his head just in time to see Heathcliff rush forward. “You, a complete moron, ruined our plan!” He stomped hard on Jackson’s leg, causing him to roll over the edge of the cliff. With his free hand Jackson snatched the edge, holding on to the Hyena with the other. The redhead stomped down on Jackson’s fingers, but Jackson refused on let go. Still, he knew one more stomp from Choppers’ boot would be the end of them.

 

And the end of them it was when Heathcliff gave one last stomp. Jackson screamed in pain, losing grip of the edge, and the two went sailing down the cliff. Jackson never thought Heathcliff’s retreating figure would be the last thing he saw. 

 

But it turned out it wasn’t.

 

Jackson looked over when their fall was put to an abrupt stop, his other hand still holding onto the Hyena. Sticking onto the frozen surface, one hand holding onto the back of Jackson’s shirt, was none other than Duncan.

 

“We may be on opposites sides now,” the chubby boy spoke, using his glue to stick Jackson and the Hyena onto the mountain’s wall. “But I’m not letting anyone  _ die  _ for what we did.” Once the two were secure, Duncan slid over beside Jackson. “Brand and the lunch lady should be able to find you before the ice cracks. And  _ not a word _ of this to the rest of my team,” he threatened. Jackson nods quickly, and he begins to climb back up the mountain.

 

“Duncan, wait!” The boy turned back, looking down at Jackson. The blonde shot him a smile, “Thank you. Hopefully you’ll change your mind and come back soon.”

 

The African American boy chuckles, shaking his head. “Someone’s gotta watch over the others.”

 

And with that, the boy scurried back up the ice as the other two watched, disappearing out of sight. Jackson let out a small sigh, attempting a smile at the Hyena. "Well, hang in there I guess. We're probably going to be here a while." He said. The girl rolled her eyes, leaning her head back onto the ice and looking above to watch clouds roll slowly overhead. "Great."

  
  
  



	2. Regroup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson and what’s left of the NERDS facility go over their options. Little do they know that the ex NERDS are going through some difficulty as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, but here is the next chapter of Cracking Under Pressure by NerdyNobody and I!

Well, at least Duncan was right. Brand and the Lunch Lady found the two shortly before the ice cracked, bringing the two previously dangling children back up to safe ground, and to an extra chopper they were able to find within the base. The school bus would have been nice to have, but in wake of it's destruction, they took what they could in the name of getting off that wobbly piece of ice with the kidnapped scientists in tow. The ride back was completely and utterly silent, all four of the people in the helicopter simply trying to register the situation they had just gone through. The mass betrayal that they had just suffered.

 

What are we going to tell their parents?” Jackson asked when he, Brand, Ms.  Holiday, the lunch lady, and the Hyena assembled in the Playground. After informing the librarian about what had happened, everyone was still shaken up.

 

“It’s drastic, but we’ll have to tell their parents that they’ve gone missing,” Brand sighs, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. “Duncan's family already knows about his spy life, so we’ll have no choice but to explain the actual events. We’re being much more considerate then we’re supposed to - usually, we’d give the parents a medication that causes them to forget they even existed.”

 

"What?" Jackson said incredulously, his eyebrows shooting up. "That's….geez…" He trailed off, shaking his head and rubbing at his arm with a frown. He guessed he should just be glad that wasn't going to happen to them, at least. Hyena crossed her arms, frowning slightly.

 

"Yeah. Woopdy doo, but we have other problems to focus on. Like, I don't know, having an entire team of superpowered kids out there trying to take over the world or whatever? ‘Repurpose it’ as Simon so kindly put it. What are we going to do? We only have a single person from that team here to help. And Jackson’s technically still a rookie! That's it. What are we supposed to do? We're outnumbered, outclassed, and flying completely blind." She said, clear frustration written all over her face as she spoke. Jackson nodded in agreement, staring up at Brand for the answer. The man pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a breath and beginning to pace as he thought.

 

“There’s not enough time to search the school for the viable recruits, but the only other agent is in an entirely different state,” he mutters, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Right now, we can only recruit the Hyena into our ranks, and since Jackson is our only current agent left, I’m appointing you as leader once we’ve replaced the team.“

 

“What?  _ ME?! _ ” Jackson exclaims, wildly gesturing to himself. “You’ve seen how terrible I was out on the field! What makes you think I’m any capable of leading an entirely different team myself?!”

 

“Because whether you like it or not,  _ you’re  _ still the only NERD left. You will teach the new team everything you know, and you’re level-headed enough to think quickly on your feet,” Brand said as he turns to the floating orb. “Benjamin, bring up a map of where the NE-I mean,  _ kids  _ could be.”

 

"Of course, Brand." Benjamin replied, spinning as a hologram of the world came up. It zoomed into Antarctica, then small dotted paths began crossing all about to different areas of the continents. "Assuming from the fact that it seems like there were only helicopters in the hanger you found, we can only assume they used one of them to escape. So, we will have to account for the fuel of that. However no doubt they can get more quite easily, and might move elsewhere when they do. Really, they could be practically anywhere within a couple days. Not to mention we don't know their hiding strategy. Hide where there is nobody around, or hide within a crowd where no one expects. Finding where they are will be near impossible." the little orb explained, more and more lines crossing all over every continent in a dizzying web. Brand grit his teeth, turning away again.

 

"Dammit. If that's the case, we may need to have to wait for their next attack and try to track them that way." He muttered. 

 

"You can't be serious. We'll be sitting ducks if we wait for their next attack! We don't know how soon they're going to make a move. If they attack again like this when we have literally two members and a cracker, we're not going to be winning." Jackson cried. Brand grit his teeth harder, looking over at Jackson with a frown.

 

"Then what exactly do you suggest? Hopping all over every single continent looking into each and every town, street, forest, and abandoned building to look for them? It would take years to do that, Braceface." He replied flatly, massaging his temples and shaking his head once more. Jackson frowned, crossing his arms and looking away silently as he chewed on his lip. Brand sighed, trying to relax himself slightly. He could practically hear Holiday's voice in his head telling him to be kinder to the children.

 

"Look. I'm sure it's ok. We won. All of their forces are basically destroyed, and all the work they did is gone. And making plans and making world ending devices takes time. A lot of it. If we work fast enough, I'm absolutely sure that we can gather more members and ready ourselves to face them again when the time comes."

 

“But what if I don’t want to fight them?” Jackson said desperately. “They’re skilled fighters. I barely survived _training sessions_ with them! The only reason I got as far as I did was because of my braces. Even with that, Flinch could outrun me, Duncan could trap me with glue, Matilda could fly out of reach, and all it takes is one look to be hypnotized by Heathcliff! Hell, even _Ruby_ could take me down in an instant!” The blonde male’s eyes went downcast. “Besides…they’re _good people._ You heard Simon - they didn’t want to destroy the world. They were trying to fix it because of how unfair it was. Maybe...maybe if I just _talk_ to them...they could change their minds.”

 

“No offense captain, but I don’t think you’re the right person that should do that,” the Hyena butt in. “You saw how angry they were. And from the way they treat you, I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon.”

 

“Not from  _ Jackson  _ at least,” the lunch lady said thoughtfully, cracking his knuckles. “But we do have someone else. More than one, actually.”

 

Ms. Holiday studies his expression, her eyes slowly widening in realization. “You don’t mean-“

 

“It’s a dirty move on our part, but desperate times call for desperate measures,” he shrugs.

 

“Wait what does he mean by ‘someone else?’” Jackson asked looking between the two.

 

“Duncan was the one responsible for saving you, correct?” The lunch lady then turns to the security system in the corner of the room, flipping through the different footages. “Well, that’s proof he is the weak link. And luckily, we already know his weakness.” 

 

The lunch lady finally stops at a clip of footage obviously shot within a house, crossing his arms as the group looked on. It seemed to be within a kitchen, a woman already milling around with what seemed like breakfast, a man already sitting at the table drinking coffee. Soon enough a teenager, about Chaz's age, Jackson thought, wandered in looking grumpy and tired. The woman told the teen something, and she rolled her eyes before wandering back to the hall. A minute passed, and soon enough, much to Hyena and Jackson's surprise, Duncan came sprinting in on the ceiling, a grin on his face as the teen chased him in with a furious look on her own face.

 

“Is this...Duncan’s family?” Jackson asked slowly.

 

The lunch lady nodded. “The boy has a big heart - and an especially big portion reserved for his family. Why do you think he’s the only NERD whose family knows about his spy life?”

 

“Wait, you’re suggesting to use  _ Ducan’s family  _ against him?!” The Hyena said in shock. “That’s going a bit too far, isn’t it?”

 

“Exactly,” Holiday glares at the lunch lady. “He may have betrayed us, but he did save Jackson and the Hyena. Is this any way to repay him?”

 

“I hate to be the one to say this, but he’s right,” Brand said. “We can’t make any exceptions for them just because they used to work with us. They’re on the other side of the fight now, so unless we use  _ all  _ the resources we have at hand, we won’t be able to beat them when the time comes.”

 

Holiday looked almost affronted at Brand's words, bristling visibly with her frown deepening. Both Jackson and Hyena glanced between the two as the tension in the air thicked. Finally, however, Jackson stepped in.

 

"Look. Yeah, maybe we can't make exceptions. But that doesn't mean we have to jump right to that. We should try figuring something else out first, and only use that as a last resort. Duncan….he's a good person. I saw that. He was basically the only one who even bothered with me after everything I did. If he's nice enough to do that, I'm sure that there's something else that'll bring him back without using his family against him." He told them, attempting to cut through the tense atmosphere. Hyena nodded in agreement with the boy, crossing her arms.

 

"Yeah. Who knows, using his family on him might even drive him further away. We don't know. Before jumping right to that we should at least try something else. Like Jackson said. It should be a last resort." She said. Holiday gave the two children a smile, then looked back at Brand, who continued to frown and chew slightly on his lip. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering to himself.

 

"Fine. If you can figure something else out, by all means try to use it. But if you can't think of something or if your plans don't work, then we're going to have to do it. Understood?" He said stiffly. The children and Holiday relaxed, the air finally lightening up. The Lunch Lady sighed, shaking his head and turning off the footage that had previously still been playing. 

 

"I hope you know what you're doing, Brand." He said. Brand sighed once more as well, shrugging slightly.

 

"I really don't. But just this once, I'll put trust into Jackson." He responded, glancing at the aforementioned boy, who had the dignity to look slightly offended.

 

"Hey. I'm trustworthy all the time." He said. Hyena patted him on the back, chuckling lightly.

 

"I'm sure you are." She responded.

 

***

 

It was nightfall when their chopper made it to Tuvalu. They had to make multiple stops for gas - not to mention that one time the chopper stopped in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and landed on one of the patroller ships - but the team was resilient, managing to pick up a bunch of supplies during a few of the stops. Tuvalu was basically everything Ruby described it as - “small” and “island.” Despite the lack of sunlight, the island was  _ hot,  _ especially since none of them were used to the tropical temperatures.

 

Heathcliff pointed them to what he claimed was an abandoned warehouse. Truthfully, it didn’t look anything like that. It looked like the other local houses in the area - an elevated wooden two-story building, with weaved coconut leaves for a roof and some sort of bare wooden surface outside a window as a makeshift balcony. It might’ve looked homey if it wasn’t entirely covered in tree branches and seaweed.  

 

Luckily, Ruby had the wit to purchase cleaning supplies during one of the stops, and the team went to work on restoring the building, carefully removing the branches stuck, sweeping out the rubble, scrubbing the filth off the floor, walls, and ceiling, until the building was about the closest thing to decent.

 

Flinch returns with a few opened coconuts when the others were covering the floors with some old blankets. “There’s an outhouse nearby to use,” he says, passing the coconuts to each of his teammates. “It was in pretty bad condition when I went over, but I cleaned it up.”

 

“And showers?” Matilda asked hopefully, taking a sip from her coconut. She had long taken off her oversized polka-dotted jacket, which was now tied around her waist.

 

Flinch scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “About that…” The Latino boy points outside, the others following his gaze to the oceanside a few meters away.

 

“You can’t be serious.”

 

“The locals do it all the time.”

 

The kids grimaced. “Absolutely not,” Ruby stated, piling their personal belongings in the corner of the room.

 

“Please tell me this is only temporary,” Duncan said with an anxious look. Their leader let out a breath through her nose as she organized her own things, taking a glance towards Heathcliff.

 

"Hopefully. But right now, we can't risk going anywhere we might be found. Not in this state, at least. The NERDS has eyes and ears practically everywhere in the world. We need to stay here for now until we can work out a plan so we aren't found. Just have patience." She told the boy. It didn't seem to calm his nerves in the least, simply going quiet and looking down as he twiddled his thumbs. 

 

"Don't worry. We'll be fine for a while. Even if they saw where we were, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Jones and that pesky assassin are dead, so we need not worry about them being on our tails yet. We're not the only ones who need time to regroup and plan." Heathcliff stated firmly, nodding to himself before looking out the window and muttering something to himself. 

 

"Yeah, good riddance! I'm glad we won't be seeing those two again." Matilda said with a small sneer at the thought of the aforementioned two. Duncan flinched, chewing on his lip as he looked away and twiddled his thumbs more. Julio was quick to notice his best friend’s mood, frowning and patting his back comfortingly a couple times. 

 

“Don’t feel bad, hombre. At least you weren’t there to witness it happen. Then you’d have twice the nightmares!” If it wasn’t so dark Julio probably would’ve seen Duncan grow slightly pale at the statement. 

 

Ruby had noticed the chubby boy’s behavior too, narrowing her eyes as she scratches her arm underneath her shirtsleeve. She was allergic to guilt. However, she wouldn’t ask him about it yet. Maybe later, when the others are asleep, which, now that she thinks about it, is what they should be doing.

 

“It’s late enough,” The blonde leader said with a sigh, getting up and untying her hair from the two ponytails on the side of her head. Her kinky hair sprang down, bouncing past her shoulders. “Get some rest upstairs guys - tomorrow, we’ll go over our options.”

 

The team give collective nod, taking their things from the corner and heading upstairs. On the second floor, the team had laid out a few comforters, as well as several pillows and bedsheets scattered around.

 

Once Ruby had locked the front door (it wasn’t much of a lock, all she did was tied a rope firmly against a hole and a beam), she gathered her belongings and went upstairs. She wasn’t surprised to see the majority of her teammates already asleep. They must’ve been exhausted after the excessive work they had performed and the sleepless flight on the chopper.

 

Thankfully, the one person she needed to speak with was awake. Ruby joined the boy at the edge of the plywood balcony, leaning against the wall as she folded her arms. “You seem on edge.”

 

Duncan jumped at the sound of her voice, immediately tensing up. He whirled around wide eyed, only relaxing slightly when he saw it was her, still shifting uncomfortably in his place.

 

"O-Oh. Hey Ruby. Uh, well, a little. It's just that, you know. I'm away from home and my parents and that we're actually doing this. And just...you know. It's a bit to get used to." He stammered, turning away from her and back towards the ocean. Ruby frowned more as she watched him, his tenseness practically saturating the air around him.

 

"I can feel that isn't the only reason. You should know that. So tell me, why are you feeling guilty?" She said. Duncan tensed even more and shook his head.

 

"I'm not! Well, I mean, kinda. But not really! It's just that I'm feeling bad for, you know. The people that have to get knocked down for us to go up. It's just, you know. Kinda sad. But that's just the price to repurpose the world, right?" The boy said, forcing out a laugh that was quite obviously tense and awkward. Ruby hummed slightly, leaning further on the wall as she continued to look at him for a moment.

 

“You know I’m allergic to lying  _ Gluestick- _ ” The taller female watches Duncan stiffen at the use of his codename. “So there’s no point in hiding it any longer. I’ll ask you again -  _ why are you feeling guilty _ ?”

 

Duncan never liked the tone Ruby used when interrogating. It made her sharp eyes cut right through his skull, as if she was already reading his pathetic brain. 

 

A snippet of a conversation Ruby had with Ms. Holiday slips her mind. ‘ _ Maybe you shouldn’t be so harsh on them. After all, they’re your teammates. Intimidating them won’t make them any more loyal.’ _

 

Ruby then decides that the terrified look on the African boy’s face told her she needed to take a different approach. “I won’t tell the others,” she promised. “If that’s what you’re so worried about.”

 

Duncan’s shoulders seem to unknot in the slightest. “Really?” He whispers.

 

The leader nods affirmatively, and the boy’s gaze falls downward, swallowing harshly as he slowly picked up the courage to speak. “...Jackson and the Hyena aren’t dead. I know because I saved them. I stopped their fall after Heathcliff left the ledge and stuck them to the ice mountain. I know I shouldn’t have saved them, especially since that gives NERDS an advantage of having one operating member, but... _ I don’t want anyone to die _ . Yes, I know that in order for us to make a difference, some bad things have to be done, but I can’t let anyone die for that. I can’t sleep knowing that someone’s death is our fault, that all this disaster is ruining so many lives, lives that don’t deserve this. If there was a better way, one more peaceful with less people getting hurt, I would take it.” Duncan’s eyes harden, his fists trembling in his lap. “But I know there isn’t.”

 

Duncan expects Ruby to be furious, yelling at him at the top of her lungs about how stupid his morales were, how they’d get him killed one day. Instead, from the corner of his eye, he sees her continue to stare at him, her expression as unreadable as ever. He briefly wonders if her being silent is worse than her angry. 

 

She continued to stay quiet as she mulled over his words, thinking of the best way to approach the new information she had been given. She was beginning to regret saying she wouldn't tell the others. There were more than a few choice words she wanted to spit out, but not at Duncan. No. Because deep in her, she did understand what he was saying. Honestly, with him, she could never expect him to be ok with having blood on his hands. She couldn't really expect  _ anybody _ to accept having blood on their hands. Yes, it was going to make more than a few problems, but really…..somehow she couldn't even force herself to be mad.

 

"Duncan…….I am…..disappointed. But….I also can't say I don't understand. However I do want you to know I don't want something like this happening ever again. I will keep my word and not tell the others, but we will need to prepare more than we had planned, and faster too. I expect you to do your fair share of work. For now, you should get to sleep. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow." She said, her voice keeping that same professional, almost emotionless tone. Duncan looked shocked, his jaw dropping slightly. She let him go just like that? 

 

"O-Oh. Ok. …..Thank you Ruby. Really. You should probably sleep too." He said, turning to shuffle his way inside, glad that the girl had not blown up, or worse. Ruby gave him a stiff nod, not answering him as he walked by her. She stared out at the waves of the ocean, her fingers drumming away at her arms. One thing was for sure. She wasn't going to be getting much sleep tonight.


	3. Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson and the Hyena struggle to find viable recruits with facing problems with their own social status, while the ex NERDS try to adapt to their new environment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the long overdue wait, but here's the next chapter by Nerdy and I!

Loud chatter filled the cafeteria where Jackson and The Hyena sat, both children looking tired with their chins on the table they sat at. Brand and Holiday had set up a mountain of fake papers to enroll the Hyena into Nathan Hale, that way she could accompany Jackson in finding new possible recruits while, begrudgingly, catching up on her studies. So far, she only ended up doing more of the latter than the former.

 

"This is  _ hopeless. _ " Jackson groaned, kicking his feet into the table's legs. The Hyena blew a piece of hair from her face, her head leaning to the side.

 

"You got that right. I can barely see  _ anybody _ here that would be right for this sort of job. I mean, come on. You would at least think there would have to be at least  _ somebody  _ good for the job. We can't just be a three man team!" She responded, throwing up her hands in frustration before plopping them back down at her sides with a sigh of defeat. 

 

“ _ Two  _ man team,” Jackson corrected, briefly glancing over at the female beside him. “We don’t know if that past agent that lives in another state would actually agree to help us out.”

 

“ _ Ugh _ , now you’re just jinxing our luck.” The Hyena said with a huff, half-glaring at the boy. Jackson was about to reply when a familiar, irritating voice cut in. “Afternoon  _ Mindy, _ ” Brett Bealer greeted with a smirk, to which both children responded with another groan as the boy strut over pulling himself a seat to their table. “And how is your day going so far in the lovely Nathan Hale Elementary?” He asked suavely.

 

“For the last time Brett, I’m not joining your band of arrogant, self-conscious losers.” The Hyena droned with a scoff. The infuriating male had been tailing the girl since she got here, repeatedly inviting her to hang out with ‘the popular crowd.’ Not even a knee to the groin has chased him off.

 

The boy made a dramatic gasp. “Our group is  _ nothing  _ like that!” He defended. “It’s at least more…’civilized’ than being with an  _ actual  _ loser.” He pointedly sent Jackson a glare.

 

“Oh wow, looks like Bealer knows bigger words than his brain.” Jackson said sarcastically. Right on cue, something suddenly smacked right against the back of his head, splattering all over his delicately gelled and styled hair. The boy whirled around, a hand immediately going over to touch his now ruined and sticky hair. 

 

"What the  _ heck?!"  _ He practically screeched, eyes widening in both anger and shock. He scans the cafeteria, trying to spot the source of the egg. There, at the very far end of the cafeteria, was a group of four boys, snickering away at Jackson's plight. And there in the middle of them, was a large carton of eggs with two missing. One could obviously be seen being tossed up and down by one of the boys, while the other one could assume was splattered all over the back of Jackson's head. Brett was barking out a laugh at Jackson's dilemma, and by the look on his face he seemed to have known it would happen.

 

The offended boy quickly jumped out of his seat, already going to march over to the table with a beet red face and quite nearly puffing smoke out of his nostrils. He was only stopped by a hand grabbing the back of his shirt, glancing back to see The Hyena with a small scowl on her face.

 

"Don't. They're only going to embarrass you further like this. Bullies like them are just like that. Come on, you need to get cleaned up. Let's not wait for another egging." She said, leveling a glare over at the four boys, who only laughed even more at them. Jackson bristled, gripping his hands into fists as he felt the nanobytes in his mouth whirl around in his rage. Brett and those kids were lucky that he didn't let loose a giant metal fist at their faces. That would teach them. 

 

Jackson stood there for a couple seconds, fuming and bristling more than an angry cat as he stared down the laughing boys. But eventually he finally nodded, and The Hyena stood up with him to jog to the bathroom with him. She stayed outside and leaned against the wall while he went in to begin carefully removing all the egg from his hair. Not like it did much though, considering that his hair was already ruined.

 

"Geez. What pricks." The Hyena said from her spot outside. Jackson scowled and nodded, even despite the fact she could see him do so.

 

"Yeah. They are. I know them from back when I was popular. Although Brett and I didn't really interact with them much since, you know, but I guess he’s just making an exception to get on my back. They're like, the ultimate pranksters of the school. Sometimes it's as small as throwing eggs, like today, other times they pellet slime all over the entire school." Jackson explains from inside the bathroom, grimacing when he manages to peel off an egg yolk from his blonde locks. 

 

"Geez, they must've done a lot of planning ahead to pull something like that off." The Hyena comments, folding her arms and furrowing her brows with a thoughtful look. "And  _ how long  _ have they been doing this?"

 

"Since kindergarten," Jackson responded, plucking out a few egg shells that were stuck on his roots. "Honestly, it started  _ the moment _ they got their hands on a carton of eggs."

 

"So what, they banded together just like that?" The Hyena asked. "That easily?"

 

"Uh huh. Birds of a feather flock together, I guess." Jackson groaned, checking his hair again for eggshells before turning on the water faucet and reluctantly leaning over so he could splash water onto his hair and wash out all the sticky egg from it, hair gel coming with, much to his increased chagrin. 

 

"You got that right. Geez. Glad they're  _ definitely _ not being on our team." Hyena said, shaking her head slightly. Jackson gave a snort. At least that was one small victory to put in the books, even if it  _ was _ pretty tiny.

 

"Yeah. Woohoo for that." Jackson sighed, punching his fist in the air in a tiredly enthused gesture.

 

Needless to say, it took a hot minute to take all the egg out of his hair. Slightly past the lunch bell too, unfortunately. At the end of the ordeal, it sent them shuffling back down the hall towards class with Hyena looking sympathetic, and Jackson, with his still damp and now flattened hair, looking like his pride had taken a dive into the dumpster. If he had a hoodie, he would have the hood up and simply stay curled inside of it for the rest of eternity, the boy thought.

 

However, unfortunately, that was not possible. Although on the other, more fortunate hand, the rest of school seemed to go by without any hitches other than the occasional kid giggling at Jackson's hair. 

 

They came shuffling out of their last class when their noses suddenly itched, and the two let out loud sneezes. Immediately after, Brand's voice came through their heads.

 

"Head down to The Playground, kids. We got an upcoming mission for you." He told them when his voice crackled through, then disappeared just as quickly. Jackson and Hyena looked at each other, then nodded before sprinting off down the hall to their lockers. Soon enough they were shooting down, unaware of the group of watchers they had on them. 

 

The two dropped gently on the ground, and hurried over to where Brand and Ms. Holiday stood. 

 

"Hey, got our call. So what's our first two man mission?" Jackson asked as they stopped in front of them. Brand sighed, running a hand back through his hair.

 

"Well first off, this isn't a full on mission. We're not sending you to fight anything. We won't be doing that until we have a good team assembled. This is a recruitment mission." He told them, giving a nod to Benjamin floating close, who projected a video of a girl that almost looked like some sort of bigfoot. 

 

"Who is  _ that?"  _ Hyena asked in confusion, cocking a brow at the projection as it began to move, showing a various amount of impressive feats from the girl that included popping a car  _ five feet _ into the air with a beam of wood while the two kids watched in slight awe.

 

"This is Gerdie. A mathematic whiz that used to be a part of the team before she moved away a few years back. We are hoping to get her help and have a more experienced member on the team. She has an amazing mind, and would be an extreme asset to have on the team. And so we'll be sending you out tomorrow afternoon to go and try to get her." Brand explained. 

 

"But how are we going to get her here if she moved away?" Jackson inquired with furrowed brows.

 

"It's complicated and explaining it would take all day, plus you kids need to get home to rest up for this mission." Brand said, shaking his head. "Are we clear, agents?"

 

The two children seemed to agree with that, at least. Jackson mostly because he wanted to go home to take a shower and fix his hair. Hyena mostly because she was a firm believer in needing beauty sleep. And both because they had a slight bit of nervousness about the mission that was soon to be upon them. But of course it couldn't go wrong when it was so simple……. _ right? _

 

***

 

" _ This  _ is the brilliant result Duncan managed to whip up?" Heathcliff asked with furrowed brows.

 

Matilda rolled her eyes, adjusting the hose in her hand. The duo was currently standing underneath the space of their elevated house, which was now shielded with spare towels and curtains. “No, this is the  _ temporary  _ alternative to going nude in the sea. Duncan's in the process of making actual showers to use, but until then, we’ll be using filtered water,” she explained. 

 

“This is ridiculous, we’re  _ geniuses _ !”

 

“We’re  _ limited  _ on resources.”

 

“That’s  _ preposterous!  _ We’re highly-trained spies! Even with the lack of normal resources, we should’ve been able to-“ The redhead was cut off when the small Asian girl sprayed the hose in his mouth while he’d been ranting. He spluttered and spat out the water, gagging shortly after. He whipped around to glare at Matilda, who gave a curt shrug in return, smiling slyly. 

 

“ _ Why you _ -” Heathcliff was then doused with another spray of water, this time directly at the face, and the enraged boy proceeded to chase the smaller girl around for control of the hose, the said girl cackling as she ran, repeatedly turning around to spray the boy again before dashing off to avoid being caught.

 

Ruby let out an irritated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. She had just returned from helping Flinch carry buckets of water and a net of fish he had caught, thanks to the locals’ spearfishing lessons, and she could already hear the chaos happening underneath the house. She pushed the curtains aside, stepping in with folded arms. “Knock it off you two,” She scowled, taking in the sight of the two children wrestling in the sand, battling for the hose.

 

“ _ She/He started it _ !” Heathcliff and Matilda accused at the same time, both still tugging each end of the hose aggressively. The blonde girl made her way over, forcefully untangling the two and stepping in between them. “You’re both being irresponsible right now - the only reason you have clean water to use is from the irrigation system we made from the ocean. If I knew you were going to waste it like this, than I would’ve hidden the buckets until you were  _ actually  _ going to take a shower.” She told them sternly. “And you two also need to learn how to cooperate with each other properly - if you were to act like this during another battle with NERDS, they  _ will  _ use your inability to get along to their advantage.”

 

The two immediately stiffened at the last of Ruby's words, their frowns and negative looks only increasing. "Not like they could beat us anyway as is." Matilda mumbled, crossing her arms and kicking a rock on the ground to send it flying in the other direction. Heathcliff only huffed in his own conceit, face crunched like he had sucked upon a particularly sour lemon. 

 

"It doesn't  _ matter _ whether we could beat them right now or not, because we can't even  _ get _ to each other, especially not without being seen. They aren't going to stay that way for long, either. They  _ will _ gather new team members, and they  _ will _ become more of a threat to us. We don't have any gadgets, we don't have any kind of plan, and we most  _ certainly _ don't have a way to get anything we need for our take over right now without at least getting caught by the NERDS cams." Ruby strained through grit teeth, pinching the bridge of her nose once again in a tone that said she was only just  _ barely _ holding back from snapping.

 

Both kids flinched at her tone, wincing as they sheepishly looked away, rubbing their arms. The blonde leader suddenly realized how harsh she'd spoken, and exhales heavily, massaging her temple. "Look...if we're going to pull this off, I need you focused on the fight rather than getting on each other's throats.  _ If  _ we get captured...it's no longer going to be just us against the NERDS. We'll be put under trial, sent to juvie, possibly jail too depending on how our trial goes," Ruby reasoned, listing her statements on each finger. "The point is...we need to be on our A game, okay? We have to be smarter - banter like this -" she gestures to her two teammates, "-will only tear us further apart."

 

"She's right, you know. You guys can't always be fighting or it's gonna throw us all off." Another voice said. The group glanced over, and saw Julio with his upper half hanging slightly in the gap that was left by Ruby to look over to them. She sighed again, and gave a pointed gesture to him with eyes that clearly said 'you see?'. It once again made the two previous battlers even more sheepish.

 

"Yeah...fine. As long as he's not yapping and complaining about not getting the best care when we're on a  _ remote island _ ." Matilda said. "As long as  _ she's _ not spraying me in the face all the time." Heathcliff responded. Both blew each other one last raspberry in retaliation, until one more look from Ruby stopped them. 

 

"Now could you  _ please _ actually get yourselves washed? You want to be washed and dried before the sun sets, or else you'll catch a cold or something. No more wasting water." She sighed, running a hand back through her kinky hair. But at the affirmative nods from her two teammates, she relaxed just slightly more before making her way back to where she came, and shutting the curtains behind her. Really, she could only  _ hope _ they were going to take her words to heart.

 


	4. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson and the Hyena confront Gerdie at her house in hopes to recruit her. Meanwhile the NERDS make due of their new environment and current resources.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Nerdy and I deeply apologize for keeping you all waiting. Enjoy the update!

Gerdie grumbled to herself as she tossed yet another useless piece of metal aside into her closet, finding herself frustrated yet again with her lack of results in her recent endeavors. Nothing was working and she couldn't help but feel angry. If only she had her upgrades, this would be no problem. All the mathematical equations would be able to whir in and out of her brain in a breeze - and she would have finished her creation in mere seconds. But those days were long gone, never to return.

 

Her mom and sisters didn't help her mood in any way, either. Her mother was always prattling on her case - whether it be about her skincare, her hair treatment, her underbite (‘you should really get braces for that,’ she claims), _everything,_ while her sisters blethered on and on about their stupid _cheerleading_ practices. ‘Oh Gerdie, you wouldn’t possibly understand how much _effort_ it takes to be this stunning under the sun,’ they’d belittle, cooing her as if she were a young child, too young to comprehend their words. She wasn’t jealous though - their pointless, lazy aerobics weren’t anything that could help her in the near future.

 

Yet deep down…she pined for their normalcy. For the ability to pass through with their days as equals to the people around them... _ normal. _ Stupidly  _ normal. _ The geeks and nerds in their new school were too enclosed, too  _ scared  _ aquant her. Maybe they knew that she was the bullies’ next top target of the week. Or month. Possibly  _ year. _

 

Plus, none of them seemed to share the same level of intelligence as her previous friends. Her friends...just thinking about them made her heart ache in memory. She  _ missed  _ all four of those smart, kind,  _ ridiculous  _ idiots. She missed the days where they’d all sneeze in sync and Heathcliff would hypnotize the teacher, and they’d squeeze themselves into their lockers and be sent into the groundbreaking Playground, then board the School Bus and be sent off for their next mission. She missed  _ everything  _ about their old home - she had a  _ life  _ there.

 

And that said life probably would or would not have been the reason why the force of a human smacked right into her window.

 

Gerdie whirled around in an instant, already wielding a chunk of the metal scraps like a sword defensively, only to blink in shock when she saw a blonde boy pressed face-first against the glass window, a monstrosity of metal sticking out as... _ spider legs _ ?

 

" _ AAAAAAA _ !!!!!" Gerdie screeched, quite nearly throwing a piece of metal at the glass. Thankfully she didn't, that would have broken the glass and she would have gotten in trouble.

 

"Hey! Mind opening the window?" The blonde boy asked. Oh god, was she going insane?

 

…...No. No she wasn't. Gerdie was smart. So after a good couple double takes, she could ascertain this was in fact real, and she did  _ not _ need to pinch herself to find that out. 

 

She walked over to the window, unlocking it and throwing it open wide. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but Gerdie beat him quickly to the punch.

 

" _ Who _ are you, and  _ why _ are you at my window?" Gerdie hissed out, trying to keep herself calm.

 

"The name's Braceface. And we kinda need your help right now with the NERDS." The blonde explained. Gerdie felt her heart nearly stop, and she contained the need to pinch herself again. 

 

The NERDS. The  _ NERDS!!! Her  _ NERDS!!! They needed her!!! But…..why did they need her? And why did they need her enough that agents flew all the way over here to try to get her? Something must be wrong.  _ Seriously _ wrong. 

 

"Why do the NERDS need me? What's going o-.....wait…" Gerdie suddenly trailed off, examining the boy closer. That styled hair….those blue eyes….the absolutely  _ horrible  _ teeth…….oh  _ no. _

 

_ "Jackson Jones???" _ Gerdie screeched, making the newly placed Jackson practically jump out of his skin in surprise. He quite obviously didn't expect her to remember him. Or...did he not recognize her?

 

"You  _ know _ me?" Jackson asked, sounding completely confused. Of  _ course _ he didn't recognize her. Why would he? But the bigger question is  _ why did the NERDS hire a bully _ ??

 

"Obviously! You bullied me the entire time I went to school with you!" Gerdie exclaimed. She watched as the boy blinked, then cringed in on himself. 

 

"Oh….sorry..." He said, unsure of what to say exactly in this sudden situation.

 

"Hey!!! Nerd boy!!! Are you gonna just chit chat or are you gonna get her to open the door???" A voice shouted from below. Jackson looked down, and Gerdie poked her head out to see a girl on her porch. This one she didn't recognize. Thank god her family wasn't home at the moment. 

 

"Uh, mind letting us in? There's kinda a lot to explain." Jackson said sheepishly. Gerdie's eyes narrowed at Jackson, but she knew she couldn't just deny something like this.

 

"Fine. But I want every detail. Including why they let  the likes of  _ you _ on the team." She said, pulling away from the window and running to go unlock the front door. Jackson shrunk obviously at the harsh words, but dropped out of sight to the front door. Gerdie arrived quite quickly, having practically slid down the banister. She may hate one person there, but it wasn't about to stop her from getting information on the current state of the NERDS. Obviously quite serious if they hired  Jackson of all people into their team.

 

Gerdie still didn’t recognize who the other girl was when she opened the front door. She seemed too good looking to be considered a nerd in general - straight platinum blonde hair, triangle shaped face with a full layer of flawless makeup, and branded clothes that looked so expensive they belonged in a mall’s display window. She carried an aura as if a lioness were eyeing her crippled prey. 

 

This girl was everything Gerdie despised in both schools - yet envied terribly. If she had a face like that, jerks would learn to leave her alone.

 

Gerdie shook that thought out of her head and stepped aside to allow the duo to come in, closing and locking the door afterwards. “Now,” The brunette gestures to the couch in the living room, propping down in a recliner chair opposite of them. “Tell me everything. Starting from you got onto the team.” She points stubbornly to Jackson.

 

Jackson blushes. “Brand saw potential in me,” he defended. 

 

“What potential?” Gerdie blurted.

 

“Wh-When I was spying on the NERDS!! After..well, this..” He gestures to his braces. “I lost my popularity and had nothing better to do. So I started watching people.”

 

“Stalker,” Gerdie snuffed.

 

“Anyways, I noticed they kept sneezing at the same time and somehow left the classroom together, and followed them. They went into their lockers, and at first I thought it was kind of weird, until I opened one and noticed they were gone. So I stepped inside myself, got sucked into the Playground, accidentally gave myself braces, and so on,” he explained. “But that’s not why we’re here.”

 

"So why  _ are  _ you here? Obviously something serious." Gerdie said, leaning back in the recliner. Jackson and the girl looked at each other for a moment.

 

"Well...the whole NERDS team went rouge." The girl said.

 

Gerdie had to do a double take at that. Even with her intellect, the amount of things packed into that tiny sentence held too many possibilities to realize. Her eyes popped wide open, and she had to keep herself from gaping. 

 

"You're  _ joking _ . No way I would ever believe something like that." Gerdie said  stubbornly, folding her arms.

 

"It's true. We were doing missions, and suddenly this Jigsaw guy came up. He was doing things with tectonic plates and causing chaos so we were going to check it out. Things happened and I got kicked off the team. I came down when Hyena here came wanting help to stop Jigsaw and found out apparently the whole team went missing with Brand and the Lunch Lady, so we went to rescue them. Even  _ more _ things happened and we found this Simon guy who was supposed to be leading the whole thing was the  _ team _ playing it the whole time with masks and voice modifiers. Hyena and I took the operation down but the team escaped. Seems like their ringleader was Heathcliff the whole time. And now we need your help to take them down before they do anything else and deal with other villains. We can't do much as a two man team." Jackson explained.

 

"That was a  _ horrible _ explanation." Gerdie said bluntly.

 

"Yeah. It really was." The newly named Hyena agreed, making Jackson once again slightly sheepish. Gerdie sighed, pinching her nose as her brows furrowed. This wasn't a good situation. How could things end up like this? She had  _ never _ known the team to be anyone who would ever betray the NERDS. Even Heathcliff! He had been intense sometimes, but she knew deep down he had a soft spot, she didn't expect him to be a ringleader to this sort of thing.

 

And yet...Gerdie can also envision why they did so in the first place. You can only keep letting yourself be pushed around for so long - and given all the years they operated in the shadows without acknowledgement, they surely thrived for a better reward than what they got.

 

“I...I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised,” Gerdie mutters, rubbing her face wearily. “It’s always been a thought at the back of our heads - to rebel against our cause, to turn the world inside out, to change things for the better. But we always knew the consequences outweighed the benefits, and things would get better in time anyways. Or...at least, I  _ thought  _ they did…”

 

Her eyes briefly glance over to Jackson. “And I’m not going to lie to you - you’re one of the biggest causes towards this.”

 

Jackson lets out a heavy sigh. “Well aware, they told me themselves.”

 

“Does this mean you’ll help us?” The Hyena asked.

 

Gerdie closed her eyes and sucked in a breath, slowly rising to her feet. “For the sake of the world, yes. You obviously won’t be able to succeed on your own, so I’ll step in.” Her expression then turns much softer as she opened her eyes. “Just…don’t hurt them too much, ‘kay? There’s good people in them somewhere - they’ve just lost their way.”

 

The duo nods at this, their eyes sympathetic and understanding. “Weren’t planning to anyway.” Jackson responds.

 

“This is going to be a pain to cover up to my parents.”

 

“We can also help you with that too.”

 

***

Being on a completely remote island in the middle of nowhere with barely any  resources  and far far away from any friends and family and familiar civilization would  be seen as absolutely horrible to most people. And, well, yeah, it  _ kind of  _ was. But the NERDS…..or well- ex NERDS now, had to come to terms with that possibility the moment that they put their plan into action. And despite all that they knew and worked up to being gone, it still had it's perks when one looked at the bright side of things. It was sunny and warm, there was a nice beach nearby, not many people to bother them at all, and it was quite quiet , save for the rushing waves that lulled them to sleep at night. 

 

But Heathcliff was a "sour Sally" as some may say. Or was it "bitter Bessy"...? It was hard to remember. In any case, Heathcliff was probably the most unhappy with the situation. Today was a bit worse than usual, so when Duncan and Julio tried to lighten the mood, he had groaned and told them that if they were so content with the place, they should go out and shop since they were running low on supplies. And so that's exactly what the two were doing now, plodding along to the village market in hopes for some good deals that could get them food and the like. Because coconuts were good, but they fancied an actual meal.

 

The two had changed out of their usual clothing for basic T-shirts and shorts, as well as trading out their shoes and socks a long time ago for flip-flops. With the more simplistic attire, they could easily be mistaken as one of the locals and blend in all the more easily. Besides the fact that Duncan had a cream cloth bag on his shoulder - never hurts to be a little eco-friendly.

 

They strolled into a nearby farmer’s market - a full street filled with canopy tents and stands housing fresh produce and fish. There was a significant difference between buying things at a grocery store and buying things from a farmer’s market - for one, the produce somehow appeared more  _ realistic. _ They weren’t as vibrant as most imported goods, but somehow it made it seem more legitimate and rugged. 

 

They were at a fruit stand when Julio caught a whiff of something in the air, suddenly perking up. He looked around, trying to detect where that wonderful smelling aroma was coming from. Then, from the far right, he saw a particularly crowded stand with a few fumes of light smoke flying out, most likely the source of the aroma. He nudged Duncan excitedly, who bought a fresh (and strangely wide) watermelon before they went over. They filed into a line on the outside of the tent and patiently waited until the line dragged inside. 

 

There, strong, savory aromas wafted about and hit them right in the face as they stared at the dishes lined up on trays across multiple tables in awe. They knew none of their names - but from watching the locals in front of them point to the dishes they wanted, they imitated the same procedure. They bought about three dishes - some sort of coconut curry, steamed “pulaka” (swamp crop), and cold coconut pudding that they’re sure will cool down the others’ dry moods. 

They paid and thanked the lady at the end of the stall and exited the farmer’s market to grab a pack of ice and an icebox at a close by store. They didn’t have a proper refrigerating system, nor  _ any  _ electric system, so it’ll have to suffice for now.

 

The old man behind the counter raised an eyebrow at what they bought, eyeing the plastic bags hung on their wrists. “Are you havin’ a party or somethin’?” He joked with a heavy islander slang. The boys blinked, shaking their heads with a nervous chuckle. 

 

“Oh  _ no _ , just buying an icebox for  _ tupuna _ !” Julio responds nervously with the Tuvaluan word for ‘grandparent’, waving his hands. “Hers broke last week.”

 

“Ahhh, understand that.” The old man nods, tilting his head at them. “You have good English. Are you new here?”

 

A bead of sweat seemed to trickle behind their necks.  _ Shit. _ “Uh..th-thank you! B-But we’re not - we just don’t go out much,” Duncan replies, tugging at his collar in an anxious manner. “We should be going now.”

 

“Okay, okay.” The man chuckles, waving as they exited the shop. “Tell your  _ tupuna  _ I said hi!”   
  


"Haha, of course!" The small boy replied, grabbing Julio's hand. Quickly, the two rushed off away from the man. It was shocking how quickly they got back to their new abode with the rush they were in, relieved when they saw it up ahead. After the close call they just had, it was a very much welcome sight. After all, if anybody figured out what was going on here, there would be trouble on their hands. 

 

"That was close, huh?" Julio chuckled with relief dripping from his voice. Duncan nodded slightly. 

 

"Yeah. Let's just hope nobody gets suspicious. Leaving isn't the best option right now." He replied with a similarly relieved tone.

 

The two looked ahead, and saw Heathcliff and Ruby in their immediate sight sitting in front of the house, seeming to be messing about with something, concentration on their faces. 

 

"Hey! Were back!!" Julio called, waving a hand, making the duo look up and stop what they were doing. 

 

"Thank god. Matilda was starting to get annoying with her whining about food." Ruby said, standing up and brushing herself off as the two came over. They opened the box to show her what they had, and she nodded in approval. 

 

"What are you guys doing there?" Duncan asked curiously, peeking over at the project the two had been previously working on. 

 

"It's the radio we had stashed in the helicopter for emergencies. It's broken right now, but we're thinking that if we can fix it, extend the range, and get it working, maybe we'll be able to get into contact with remaining units from our allies and actually start getting things done around here." Heathcliff explained, gesturing to the newly identified radio. Both Duncan and Julio's eyes widened, and Duncan quickly went to examine it.

 

"I think I can do something with this. But it'll take some time. Care handing the project to me?" He asked.

 

"Knock yourself out. You're the best one with tech here." Ruby said, sitting back.

 

" _ FOOOOOOD!!!!! _ " A sudden cry interrupted the group as Matilda came barreling down the steps, practically jumping onto Duncan who only just barely caught himself, to look inside the ice box.

 

 "What do you have? Please  be something good, I'm  _ starving _ ." Matilda  groaned . Duncan chuckled a bit at his friend, smiling. 

 

"Well, why don't we go inside and you can find out? I think we're all hungry." He said, Matilda quickly nodding before pushing off to bound through the entrance. Duncan handed Julio the ice box and he gathered up the radio bits, the group all heading inside for a meal that was well and truly looked forward to. Especially that pudding, which would hopefully cool everyone off from the hot sun.

  
So yes indeed the island living had  its  ups and downs, but maybe they'd just be able to make it through. And with that radio….they  may be able to bear just a few more days before they can relocate to a much more permanent base.


End file.
